They have tentacles coming out of their heads, live underground for months on end, do not need to feed for up to 10 years, and survived whatever killed the dinosaurs. The Zoological Society of London in the UK has launched the top 100 list of the world's weirdest, most wonderful and rarest amphibians. "They're extraordinary survivors," says Helen Meredith of ZSL. "Ninety percent of our top 100 amphibians survived the extinction of the dinosaurs." Yet they are also in dire need of help to ensure they will continue to survive.
Source: New Scientist
They have tentacles coming out of their heads, live underground for months on end, do not need to feed for up to 10 years, and survived whatever killed the dinosaurs. The Zoological Society of London in the UK has launched the top 100 list of the world's weirdest, most wonderful and rarest amphibians.
Click here for a gallery of weird and wonderful amphibians
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"They're extraordinary survivors," says Helen Meredith of ZSL. "Ninety percent of our top 100 amphibians survived the extinction of the dinosaurs." Yet they are also in dire need of help to ensure they will continue to survive.
Meredith coordinates the society’s new EDGE Amphibians initiative, a follow up of the EDGE mammals initiative, which was launched in 2007.
Using the World Conservation Union's list of endangered amphibians and a complete family tree of amphibians, the group has determined which amphibians are rare and threatened with extinction, as well as genetically distinct.
Read the full story here: http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn13202-top-100-weirdest-amphibians-list-launched.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
